1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of information handling system networking, and more particularly to a system and method for assigning addresses to information handling systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Networked information handling systems provide support for many business and personal applications. Enterprises often network information handling systems to use common storage, to enhance communications between employees and to leverage the use of peripherals, such as common printers. Individuals commonly access a variety of networks using modems or wireless access points to retrieve news, track finances or communicate with e-mail and instant messages. Typically, behind each network is one or more server information handling systems that coordinate communication of information between network clients. Large enterprises will often dedicate rooms that support multiple server information handling systems with specialized cooling and power equipment. In some instances, multiple servers known as blades operate from a common chassis to conserve space while sharing cooling and power equipment. Large enterprise networks often have a variety of support organizations responsible for the deployment and maintenance of network resources, such as clients, servers, Ethernet local area network (LAN) connections and storage area networks (SANs). In such enterprise networks, deployment and maintenance tasks typically are closely coordinated. For example, if a server information handling system or IO module is replaced, MAC and WWN addresses assigned to the replaced systems have to be updated in a variety of security, deployment and networking databases in the LAN and SAN.
A variety of techniques have evolved that attempt to automate address assignments in response to information handling system server equipment changes. One solution uses an external switch to translate MAC addresses assigned to server information handling systems and related devices to external MAC addresses used by clients to communicate with the information handling system servers and related devices. Essentially, a switch is placed between the servers and clients so that a map incorporated with the switch is available to translate the MAC addresses associated with the servers to MAC addresses used by the network for the servers. This solution supports changes to server information handling systems that alter the server MAC addresses by reprogramming the map in the separate switch so that the replacement MAC addresses map to the MAC addresses used by the network. However, this solution requires a separate hardware device to support the map, which presents a single point of failure and requires reprogramming with each change to the server information handling systems.
Similar difficulties arise with networked storage devices, such as iSCSI devices, which allow clients known as initiators to send SCSI commands to storage devices on remote servers through Internet Protocol networks. To coordinate network communications, an iSCSI offload engine (iSOE) uses a dedicated MAC address that is different from the local area network (LAN) MAC address. If an iSCSI offload engine has an IP addressed dynamically assigned by a DHCP server, and the MAC address of the Iscsi offload engine changes due to a hardware replacement, the dynamically assigned IP address typically must be manually released and reassigned to the replacement hardware. After reassignment of the IP address, switches and routers downstream from the new hardware device have to re-learn the MAC address. This process typically takes time and network administrator expertise. In some instances, iSCSI volumes in a storage array are configured such that only a defined IP address or range of IP addresses can communicate with a give iSCSI volume. If the iSCSI HBA is configured to use DHCP and the MAC address changes, network administrators generally must either make changes to the DHCP to maintain the same IP addresses or change the iSCSI volume configuration to allow the HBA's new IP address to communicate with the volume.